Note 1 — K (Continued) (continued 3)

Labbai.—The Labbais are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “a Musalman caste of partly Tamil origin, the members of which are traders and betel vine (Piper Betle) growers. They seem to be distinct from the Marakkāyars, as they do not intermarry with them, and their Tamil contains a much smaller admixture of Arabic than that used by the Marakkāyars. In the Tanjore district, the Labbais are largely betel vine cultivators, and are called Kodikkālkāran (betel vine people).” In the Census Report, 1881, the Labbais are said to be “found chiefly in Tanjore and Madura. They are the Māppilas of the Coromandel coast, that is to say, converted Dravidians, or Hindus, with a slight admixture of Arab blood. They are thrifty, industrious, and enterprising; plucky mariners, and expert traders. They emigrate to the Straits Settlements and Burma without restriction.” In the Census Report, 1891, they are described as “a mixed class of Muhammadans, consisting partly of compulsory converts to Islām made by the early Muhammadan invaders and Tippu Sultān.” As regards their origin, Colonel Wilks, the historian of Mysore, writes as follows.1 “About the end of the first century of the Hejirah, or the early part of the eighth century A.D., Hijaj Ben Gusaff, Governor of Irāk, a monster abhorred for his cruelties even among Musalmans, drove some persons of the house of Hashem to the desperate resolution of abandoning for ever their native country. Some of them landed on that part of the western coast of India called the Concan, the others to the eastward of Cape Comorin. The descendants of the former are Navaiyats, of the latter the Labbai, a name probably given to them by the natives from that Arabic particle (a modification of labbick) corresponding with the English ‘Here I am,’ indicating attention on being spoken to [i.e., the response of the servant to the call of his master. A further explanation of the name is that the Labbais were originally few in number, and were often oppressed by other Muhammadans and Hindus, to whom they cried labbek, or we are your servants]. Another account says they are the descendants of the Arabs, who, in the eleventh and and twelfth centuries, came to India for trade. These Arabs were persecuted by the Moghals, and they then returned to their country, leaving behind their children born of Indian women. The word Labbai seems to be of recent origin, for, in the Tamil lexicons, this caste is usually known as Sōnagan, i.e., a native of Sōnagam (Arabia), and this name is common at the present day. Most of the Labbais are traders; some are engaged in weaving cōrah (sedge) mats; and others in diving at the pearl and chank fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar. Tamil is their home-speech, and they have furnished some fair Tamil poets. In religion they are orthodox Musalmans. Their marriage ceremony, however, closely resembles that of the lower Hindu castes, the only difference being that the former cite passages from the Korān, and their females do not appear in public even during marriages. Girls are not married before puberty. Their titles are Marakkāyan (Marakalar, boatmen), and Rāvuttan (a horse soldier). Their first colony appears to have been Kāyalpatnam in the Tinnevelly district.” In the Manual of the Madura district, the Labbais are described as “a fine, strong, active race, who generally contrive to keep themselves in easy circumstances. Many of them live by traffic. Many are smiths, and do excellent work as such. Others are fishermen, boatmen, and the like. They are to be found in great numbers in the Zamindaris, particularly near the sea-coast.”